The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence has intensified the legal debate around know-how and trade secret protection. LES Italy's 2025 Annual Conference will explore how Italian and international case law (US, Japan, China, Korea, UK, and Germany) approach the boundaries between lawful acquisition, reverse engineering, and unfair competition. Special focus is given to the AI context, where training data use, contractual restrictions, and model distillation raise new risks of misappropriation. Recent disputes such as Deepseek v. OpenAI illustrate the tension between innovation and protection: is AI distillation a legitimate technical process, or a trade secret violation? By comparing divergent national approaches, the talk highlights compliance pitfalls for cross-border actors and considers whether harmonization is possible. Attendees will gain a practical framework to understand evolving legal standards, assess risks, and anticipate litigation trends in this fast-changing field.

Featured speakers:

• Mattia Dalla Costa, President of LES Italy, CBA (moderator)
• Brian O’Shaughnessy, Partner, Dinsmore (US)
• Alida Zentai, General Counsel, Huawei (China)
• Kenji Tosaki, Partner Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu (Japan)
• Seungyeob Baik, Founder, Near & Wise IP Law Office (Korea)
• Michael Rüberg, Attorney at law, Boehmert & Boehmert  (Germany)
• Toby Headdon, Of Counsel, Bristows (UK)
• Antonio Bana, Partner, Bana Avvocati Associati (Italy)

The conference will conclude with closing remarks by Jean Christophe Troussel, President of LES International.

The conference will be held in Milan with speakers joining in-person - there will also be an option for international attendees to join virtually.